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Today we are going to discuss a simple topic “What is PCB and PCBA and what is the difference between them? What are their uses?”.
What are the differences and distinctions between PCB and PCBA? For veterans in the electronics industry, this should not be a difficult question to answer, but for many electronics industry novices or people outside the industry, it may be easy to confuse them. The following will explain the two terms and their differences. Although there is only one word difference between PCB and PCBA, there is a big difference between them in the electronic assembly manufacturing industry.
What is PCB, circuit board, PC board?
First, let’s look at “What is PCB, circuit board, PC board?”
The full name of PCB is “Printed Circuit Board”, which is referred to as “circuit board”. Some people call it “PC board”. In fact, it also has another common name called “PWB (Printed Wire Bord)”.As the name suggests, the manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCB) is really modeled on the printing technology of early book paper. Generally, through the so-called “film”, I don’t know if you have seen the early physical projection films. , we will copy the text and pictures on a transparent plastic sheet, and then project it on a white wall or curtain through light.
When making a PCB, the negative circuit pattern is printed on the film, and then the non-circuit parts are projected onto the copper foil substrate through an exposure machine, and then the unnecessary copper foil is removed using chemical etching methods, leaving only the Required copper foil wiring.Multi-layer PCB is also made using a similar construction method, stacking layers of etched copper foil substrates. However, with the advancement of technology, the manufacturing of printed circuit boards is becoming more and more sophisticated and increasingly sophisticated. It is complicated, but the printing process technology and operations still exist.
The reason why today’s electronic products can have so many functions is that they are basically composed of electronic circuits and electronic components one by one, and these circuits must have a carrier, and PCB is this carrier.
PCB is an empty board full of circuits. After all the electronic components are assembled on the PCB, this board will be called PCBA. We generally call the PCB that has printed electronic circuits but has not yet assembled components as “blank board” or “bare board” to distinguish it from PCBA.
Strictly speaking, PCB should be regarded as one of the parts that make up PCBA, and it should be a very important electronic part. It is the support body of electronic components and the carrier of electrical connection between electronic components.
Of course, there is another kind of FPC, also known as “flexible circuit board”, which can also achieve the same carrier function as PCB, but they have their own needs and applications for hard and soft. In most electronic product designs, “hard board PCB” is still the main application.
What is PCBA?
The difference between PCB and PCBA is “PCBA = PCB + Assembly”, that is, a board without electronic components is called PCB, and a board with fully assembled electronic components is called PCBA.
PCBA is the abbreviation of “Printed Circuit Board Assembly”, some people simply call it PCA, and of course some people call it PWA (Printed Wire Assembly). Generally, if there is only one board in a whole machine, it will be directly called “main board”. If there are more than two PCBAs, they will be distinguished by functions, such as Main Board, IO Board, Charging Board, and Display Board(video card).
How are electronic components placed on PCB to form PCBA?
The most popular PCBA assembly process is “SMT (Surface Mount Technology)”, which first prints solder paste on the blank board, then attaches the electronic components to the PCB, and then flows through the reflow furnace. The high temperature will melt the solder paste and solder the pins of the components to the PCB, so as to fix the components and connect the electronic signals between the components and the PCB.
A small number of PCBA assembly will use “wave soldering” technology. Generally speaking, there will be some electronic components that are heavier or need to withstand external forces for multiple plugging and unplugging on the assembly board.
If these components cannot be completely converted into SMD components technically, or the price of SMD components cannot meet market expectations, or some components that must withstand external forces for multiple plugging and unplugging when used by end customers, they will be designed as through-hole components, that is, plug-ins (THD, Through Hole Devices), and then flow through the wave soldering furnace to solder the components to the through holes of the PCB.
There are also designs that combine SMT (surface mount technology) and Wave soldering technology to achieve the soldering of components to PCB. In short, there are various technologies that can solder electronic components to PCB.
After the above introduction, you should now be able to clearly distinguish what is PCB? What is PCBA?
PCBA can basically be regarded as a finished product, because some manufacturers will produce PCBA and ship it directly, such as manufacturers who sell computer motherboards or graphics cards alone.
PCB can basically only be regarded as a component. PCB can be regarded as a very important component in the whole piece of PCBA, but it cannot represent PCBA, because the PCB needs to be welded with integrated circuits (IC), resistors, capacitors, inductors, connectors and other parts to become a finished product, so PCB should only be considered as a part.
